KEEP EVOLVIN'
TOGETHER WITH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR, WE ARE TRANSFORMING UNEMPLOYED WOMEN
from Africa into the next generation of managers and leaders.
ANNUAL COMMUNICATION ON PROGRESS 2019 THE EVOLUTION
Helping unemployed women find a place in society through hospitality and sustainable tourism.
2019 was the year of tracking 2 and monitoring inputs and Evolvin' Women at glance outputs while growing our network of partners. 5 Global Compact Principles Establishing partnerships with PwC Academy, Amity University 9 and strengthening existing Corporate citizenship strategy and approach partnerships with Accenture, Accor, Hilton and Radisson,
has enabled our operation to be ready for 100 women to 16 enrol in 2020. Outcomes
This year in line with our commitment to ethical governance we have appointed an independent auditor, 17 transferred our licence to Dubai Multi Commodities Performance Table - goals and Centre (DMCC) and introduced an Anti-Bribery and Anti- progress Corruption policy.
We have also completed phase one for the design of our first Hub in Africa in alignment with SDG #11 Sustainable Cities and Communities and #12 Responsible Consumption and Production, and launched a social entrepreneurship course for particpants interested in addressing social and environmental issues in their communities and achievement of SDGs.
With social impact at the core of our enterprise, working towards implementing the Global Compact principles is what drives our business. The Evolvin' Women annual COP is part of our commitment to the United Nations Global Compact.
Keep evolvin'
Assia Riccio Founder Evolvin' Women
Grow with us... one woman at the time!
E V O L V I N ' W O M E N C O P 2 0 1 9 | 1 EVOLVIN' WOMEN AT GLANCE
Established in 2017 and based in Dubai, Evolvin’ Women aims at building sustainable economies in developing countries through the advancement of women with limited access to education and skill development. Evolvin’ Women was born to address this social issue by providing corporates with a socially responsible solution to their recruitment and CSR needs, while helping governments in developing countries reduce female unemployment by investing in a study abroad programme for unemployed women from rural areas.
We currently operate in Ghana, South Africa and Rwanda with expansion plans in Kenya and Zambia in 2020. In 2018, 11 women enrolled in our programme and have had access to international skill development placements in Dubai with a view to securing a job back in their home country at the end of the programme. In 2019, we decided to monitor the programme, expand our network of partners and prepare for 100 women to enrol in 2020. Countries Evolvin' Women has been presented as a of operation sustainable tourism initiative at the Women's 3 Economic Empowerment Global Summit by the UN WOMEN, the African Women in Tourism Summit, the Arabian Travel Market in Global Dubai and at the ChangeNOW Summit in Partners France where Evolvin' Women was selected by 35 the Dubai Government to represent Dubai on sustainability. Programmes Evolvin’ Women has also been proud to in the pipeline support the United Nations Sustainable 6 Development Goals (SDGs) #4 Quality Education, #5 Gender Equality and #8 Decent Work, to be one of the first micro-enterprises Training to become a signatory of the United Nations hours delivered Global Compact (UNGC) and chair the steering 2322 committee in the UAE to deliver the 7 Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), the result of collaboration between UN Women and the UNGC.
E V O L V I N ' W O M E N | 32 THE SOCIAL ISSUE - THE WHY
In Africa, where female unemployment rates can reach 50% in rural areas, meeting our vision is crucial to building sustainable economies, intensifying the fight against extreme poverty, and achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
According to the World Bank:
ISSUE INTERVENTION OUTCOME
Finances & social norms Less than a 1/3 of High Female determine if a woman vocational training unemployment rates, continues training. Catching generates employment. only 29% of senior up with skills development in Even those that are management roles are adult life becomes a successful are costly, with held by women and only challenge leaving women in a returns that rarely justify 5% of CEOs are female vulnerable position governments’ investment. due to the small pool of compared to men. female candidates.
Our Theory of Change at a glance Evolvin' Women Model A sustainable ecosystem We believe that by bringing together the public and private sectors to deliver a programme with employment and transferable skills as outcomes, Logistics Job opportunities Training Venues Skill development we will enable unemployed women to increase their Rural areas access Evolvin' Women Education economic participation. Endorsement Funding
Though a rigorous selection process, preparation Women training and 2-years of professional training and mentoring, women gain a level of experience that Governments Corporates will allow them to be fully equipped to enter full time employment in their home country.
Policy making Cooperation Corporate Citizenship
E V O L V I N ' W O M E N C O P 2 0 1 9 | 3 THE SOCIAL ISSUE - THE HOW
By implementing our Theory of Change we provide a solution to the challenges faced by both private and public sectors:
The challenge for governments The challenge for corporates
Governments in Africa are working towards While governments are addressing the issue increasing women’s economic participation and of women's unemployment, the private sector is their representation in senior management roles addressing the challenge of finding projects that through capacity building programmes. Yet these increase their social impact participation and programs are not yielding results sufficient to position them as trusted corporate citizens. address the problem. By providing:
Logistics Job opportunities Training Venues Skill development Access to rural areas Education Endorsement Funding
Evolvin' Women can deliver a 27 month employability programme inclusive of:
Application & selection process 3 month Preparation training 2 years of professional and personal development Mentoring Support network Access to full time jobs Impact reporting Ethiopia
Ghana Kenya Nigeria Rwanda AREAS OF WORK TODAY
South Africa
WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS COMMUNITY We are developing the next We are developing the next We are developing the next generation of female generation of female generation of self-sustained professionals through social entrepreneurs through communities through and economic empowerment. training and market access. innovation and new income.
E V O L V I N ' W O M E N C O P 2 0 1 9 | 4 GLOBAL COMPACT PRINCIPLES
Evolvin’ Women is currently working within the framework of the United Nations Global Compact. We are actively committed to all ten of these principles. Below is an outline of how we are executing policies and actions to ensure we comply with these principles.
E V O L V I N ' W O M E N C O P 2 0 1 9 | 5 HUMAN RIGHTS PRINCIPLES
Principle 1: Businesses As per our policy, Evolvin’ Women works closely with the Government of should support and the United Arab Emirates and foreign country Embassies in Dubai to protect women while they are in the UAE. Women have access to medical respect the protection of insurance, work visa, a suitable means of travel to and from their place of internationally work, suitable accommodation, and competitive remuneration for the proclaimed human rights duration of the programme.
Principle 2: make sure We have monthly "Sit at the table" workshops aimed at providing our participants with a seat at the table, an opportunity for them to be heard that they are not and to make a difference. We also have monthly calls with every complicit in human rights participant for the duration of the programme. We ask questions to find abuses out if there are any incident of bullying and abuse while working with our hotel partners. The monthly contact policy is to ensure there are no abuses of power and if situations are brought to our attention an investigation is launched and monitored. Mentors are also called on a monthly basis to find out similar information.
Our workshops provide our participants with a safe environment to share and address challenges.
E V O L V I N ' W O M E N C O P 2 0 1 9 | 6 LABOUR PRINCIPLES
Principle 3: Businesses Our supply chain policy, allows us to work only with licensed organisations should uphold the freedom and ensures that our hotel partners work in compliance with the UAE labor law. The business conducted within Evolvin’ Women gives of association and the participants the flexibility to control their participation. The training and effective recognition of the tasks assigned are provided with a flexible timeframe so particpants can right to collective learn at their own pace and get the most out of the tools at their bargaining disposal.
Principle 4: the elimination Evolvin’ Women works closely with its partners in Dubai and foreign countries to ensure that participants are motivated, dedicated and willing of all forms of forced and to improve their quality of education and seek other means of compulsory labour employment. As per our policy, participants travel to Dubai when they have an employment contract and work visa according to the UAE Labour Law; they make the decision to come based on the contract they reviewed and signed. Therefore they can stay up to 2 years but are free to resign at their own discretion. They also have access to their Embassy in the UAE. When our participants return to their home countries, they are not forced into employment but are rather given the opportunity to decide what industry-specific field is most appropriate and enjoyable.
Principle 5: the effective Evolvin’ Women does not associate itself with brands, companies or abolition of child labour entities that have a history of possible or proven child labour to our best knowledge. We do not enrol anyone under the legal age of work. We only work with unemployed women 21 and over. Women who complete our programme are able to create a better life for themselves and their families and increase the chances for their children to access education.
Principle 6:the elimination By teaching women regardless of their race, age, socioeconomic of discrimination in background or nationality, Evolvin’ Women has demonstrated its respect of employment commitment to diversity, education and to the implementation of WEPs. Elimination of discrimination is at the heart of Evolvin’ Women. and occupation Assessment, Policy and Goals
E V O L V I N ' W O M E N C O P 2 0 1 9 | 7 ENVIRONMENTAL PRINCIPLES
Principle 7: Businesses Evolvin’ Women is aware of the challenges that arise with global warming and a changing environmental landscape. In 2019 we completed the design should support a of our first Evolvin’ Community Hub that will provide women returning precautionary approach to home after the programme, with a space to train people in rural areas on environmental challenges sustainable tourism activities that generate new income for the community. In order to respect the environment and educate in sustainability, we have invested time and resources in preparing policies that will demonstrate our
commitment to partnering with environmentally friendly organisation, such as Eco Domes. Policies will ensure that the construction is environmentally friendly and sustainable by using resources that are harvested consciously and sustainably.
Principle 8: undertake Evolvin’ Women has demonstrated its commitment to promoting greater initiatives to promote environmental responsibility through its conscious use of resources and commitment to working with hotels who engage in environmental greater environmental initiatives. Examples are our partnerships in 2019 with: responsibility Hilton Travel with Purpose initiative that represents Hilton's commitment to redefine sustainable travel and drive positive environmental and social change across its operations, supply chain and communities.
Accor Planet 21 programme that demonstrates the Group's ambitious goals around four strategic priorities: work with its employees, involve its customers, innovate with its partners and work with local communities to tackle key issues including green buildings and environmental
sustainability.
Principle 9: encourage the We want to work with women who want to make a difference. In 2019 we launched a social entrepreneurship course in partnership with Amity development and diffusion University to support those participants who wish to develop enterprises of environmentally that generate environmental and social impact on their return home. friendly technologies Assessment, Policy and Goals
ANTI-CORRUPTION PRINCIPLES
Principle 10: The introduction of the Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Policy in 2020, Businesses should work explains our individual responsibility to comply with anti-bribery and anti- corruption laws and to ensure that any third parties that we engage to act against corruption in all its on our behalf, do the same. forms, including extortion and bribery
E V O L V I N ' W O M E N C O P 2 0 1 9 | 8 CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP STRATEGY & APPROACH
Our strategy includes 3 pillars: - Ethical governance - Partnerships - Environment
Our inputs, outputs and outcomes are motivated by and explicitly in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. CORPORATE CITIZEN STRATEGY & APPROACH
Below is an outline of our outcomes and how we are executing tactics to ensure they are reached in view of maintaining profitability while improving the quality of life of o ur beneficiaries and their communities.
Ethical Governance Partnerships
C O R Public Sector M E P Evolvin' S Private Sector L O Legal Support I Women U Community A R Advisory Board N C C E E S
INPUT
Women (beneficiaries)
SOCIAL IMPACT
Outcomes Community development
Environment
E V O L V I N ' W O M E N C O P 2 0 1 9 | 1 0 ETHICAL GOVERNANCE
Evolvin' Women is driven by the commitment to develop a framework of rules and practices that ensures accountability, fairness, and transparency in our relationship with all stakeholders.
Advisory board Our advisory board includes members from Accenture, our hotel partners and the United Nations Global Compact. This diversity allows us to strengthen our relationship with partners and supporters and receive feedback and advice from both private and public sectors.
Legal support We have clear contracts in place with all our stakeholders issued and reviewed by Winston and Strawn in Dubai.
Enhance the global partnership for sustainable development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the sustainable development goals in all countries, in particular developing countries. In 2019, we have established further relationships and partnerships with the public sector in the UAE and Africa. We introduce our participants to the Ambassador of their country in Dubai and have an MoU in place with each government in their relevant country of origin. The endorsement we receive from the public sector is allowing us to guarantee transparency and be accountable while working on our contribution to the achievement of SDGs.
E V O L V I N ' W O M E N C O P 2 0 1 9 | 1 1 PARTNERSHIPS
We are committed to establishing partnerships for capacity building by engaging with the private sector and the community.
Private Sector Enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity- building in developing countries to support national plans to implement all the sustainable development goals.
Through a corporate agreement and in alignment to Planet 21 and RiiSE movement, Accor is providing job opportunities and training to women enrolled in the Evolvin’ Women Programme.
In alignment with their women in leadership campaign, the partnership with Radisson Blu is highlighting the importance of women advancement by providing employment opportunities and training to our participants.
Through this partnership Hilton is delivering training and providing employment to women. Thanks to Hilton’s Travel with Purpose Action Grants program, in 2018 Evolvin’ Women was awarded a grant towards building the first Evolvin’ Community Hub in Africa which will boost economic activities, job creation and sustainable development.
Accenture has enabled Evolvin’ Women to bring education to rural areas through their Skills to Succeed Academy, a highly interactive, online training program that helps our particpants build skills and confidence to make career choices and develop the key employability skills they need to find and sustain employment.
In collaboration with Evolvin’ Women the PwC Academy provides participants with a range of professional development courses in Finance, Human Resources, Leadership and Digital skills. These capacity building programmes are based on the best practices of PwC’s global network of firms and the individual experiences of their training experts.
Through this partnership participants access a Tourism and Hospitality Professional Course and an incubator centre for social entrepreneurship. Both courses will engage participants for 12 months.
In December 2019, our partnership with ampUz, enabled us to revisit our social impact indicators and implement their online solution to track competencies, professional development and financial indicators in alignment to SDGs #4 Quality Education, #5 Gender Equality and #8 Decent Work and Economic Growth.
E V O L V I N ' W O M E N C O P 2 0 1 9 | 1 3 Through Cudoo, our particpants have access to 1300+ online courses in Languages and Professional Development Skills. Preparing them for the job market is critical to their advancement.
SmartMentor platform is bringing together our evolvin’ women and experts to facilitate the sharing of knowledge, skills and experiences via a mentoring model that creates social impact.
DMCC partnership has enabled Evolvin’ Women to register in the free zone, access office space and engage the wider community through their Corporate Social Responsibility.
Community By engaging with the community we aim at making a positive change that surpasses borders, cultures and backgrounds.
Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships. In 2018 we launched our Change-makers community that is providing our participants with the opportunity to network and learn from professionals they would have not have had a chance to meet otherwise. Over 100 members have signed up to date. In 2019, we launched our first online community where participants can connect on a regular basis with experts from around the world.
E V O L V I N ' W O M E N C O P 2 0 1 9 | 1 4 ENVIRONMENT
EVOLVIN' COMMUNITY HUB
Developing SUSTAINABLE TOURISM while improving RURAL LIVELIHOOD
Founder Education Concept Design Construction Construction Partner Partner Partner Partner ENVIRONMENT
At Evolvin’ Women, we are committed to reducing our environmental footprint and working towards fostering sustainable growth for our company and our clients. It is our plan to extend our social impact within the home countries of our particpants by developing community hubs in rural areas. Each hub must be ecologically and environmentally sustainable.
By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse Specifically, Evolvin’ Community hub has been designed in partnership with Eco Domes, a social enterprise based in South Africa that develops eco buildings that are cost efficient, create local jobs and co-operatives and are environmentally safe (no wood or steel used in the building, much less cement than conventional construction and zero-waste green infrastructure integrated at design level). The current building project is inclusive of the use of solar panels to provide a constant electricity source to the hub, the installation of greywater systems to ensure water supply is managed, the use of an effective recycling system with minimal waste and the planting of trees and plants to ensure that the hub will not negatively impact its surroundings.
OUR OUTCOMES
Our 3 strategic pillars supports 5 outcomes set to generate social impact in the future
Participants must:
1.be able to secure a full-time salaried job in their home country within 6 months from the end of the Programme; 2.attain an increase in salary compared to the salary they were able to receive based on their CV before the programme 3.have an improved financial position, creating life options such as independent living within 2-3 years from starting a full-time job in their home country 4.be able to have a bank account and directly access their salaries and life savings 5.secure a managerial role (if they choose to) within 5-7 years from starting a full-time job in their home country
E V O L V I N ' W O M E N C O P 2 0 1 9 | 1 6 PERFORMANCE TABLE OUTCOMES REACHED
Input Output Outcome
Mentoring, - 17 women enrolled Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non- Face to face formal education and training in the previous 12 months, and online - 1001 hours of by sex training mentoring 17 participants have improved skills and knowledge through self-assessments and on job training.
- 2322 Face to Proportion of youth and adults with information and face training hours communications technology (ICT) skills, by type of skill
17 participants have had access to computers, - 703 online training technology expertise and a work environment where
hours the best technology is used to meet guests’ needs. They are exposed to new ways of doing business and are able to generate ideas to implement in their home country and advance the service industry.
Proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex, age and location By providing employability skill training sessions, interview simulation sessions and coaching 11 women secured skill development placements in Dubai.
Proportion of adults (15 years and older) with an account
at a bank or other financial institution or with a mobile-
money-service provider
Particpants are financially independent, have a bank
account and direct and sole access to her income and
life savings.
E V O L V I N ' W O M E N C O P 2 0 1 9 | 1 7 THANK YOU AND KEEP EVOLVIN'
For more information about our partnership fees and other countries of operation, please contact
Assia Riccio Founder Email: [email protected] Cell: +971 55 315 1423
We look forward to working with you to help more women evolve.
A social enterprise at heart, Evolvin’ Women provides corporates with a socially responsible solution to their recruitment and CSR needs, while helping governments in developing countries reduce female unemployment in rural areas. Due to our commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals #4, #5 and #8 and our work in the field of equality of opportunity, in 2017 we became a signatory to the United Nation Global Compact and joined the UAE WEPs Committee. evolvinwomen.com
Arabian Start Up Awards - Achieving Women Awards - Best Women in Hospitality Social Enterprise 2018 Social Enterprise 2019 Initiative 2019 by ARABIAN BUSINESS by ENTREPRENEUR MIDDLE by LUX LIFE MAGAZINE UK EAST & ACCOR